MCITP/MCTS better than MCSE 2003 ?

Long time ago ,we talked about the post : MCSE/MCSA has timed out ,which consider many of MCSE/MCSA exams have been retired and the new technology and server 2008 exams have been published .With the new technology more and more popular ,that post think MCSE/MCSA should move forward. However, MCITP /MCTS on server 2008 really are better than MCSE 2003 credentials? Many of windows XP users refuse to upgrade XP to Vista。Server 2003 users also maybe refuse to use Server 2008.
Recently, I have gone through many forums and MC site on this subject. I found that many people did not know they should choose MCSE 2003 or MCITP/MCTS, and whether they should upgrade their MCSE 2003 to Server 2008 credentials.

There are mainly two opinions about this.
Some people think MCITP /MCTS are better than MCSE/MCSA 2003 absolutely .The reasons are as follows:

First of all, we should keep pace with the latest technology and apply for the latest MCITP/MCTS on Server 2008.And many of Server 2008 exams have been born out for a long time .More important, they think the latest Server and client systems will be better than Server 2003 system that are 7-9 years old .And the technology is moving towards, and the corresponding exams or certification also is moving on. Only those grasping the latest technology well can keep up with the demand of the market and won’t fall behind the times.

Secondly, with the latest technology and MCTS/MCITP cert being published, many older exams in MCSE/MCSA track are discontinued or retired. But Microsoft official sites never publish the accurate day for the remaining exams to retire. Maybe tomorrow, in a few months, or in a year ,who know ?Yeah, it said that the MCSE/MCSA 2003 would never expire .However, if the main technology support ends, don’t the MCSE/MCSA 2003 expire? Even though the MCSE/MCSA 2003 exams are not retired, it will be useless to own a cert that the market don’t support.

Besides, So far, there has been a lot of applause to Server 2008.Since Windows Server 2008 is a success, it may be possible for Microsoft to stop support of Server 2003.So, following the market trends, it is safe to acquire certification for MCITP or MCTS .Because many companies will be looking for the person with the latest qualifications.

Others think it won’t be wise to upgrade MCSE 2003 or MCSA 2003 to MCITP /MCTS. Although Server 2008 technology and credentials have been born out for a long time, many countries or many companies or people don’t switch over to Server 2008, even, they don’t have plans of upgrading to server 2008 at the moment .Because Microsoft have a failure in Windows. It is known that most of people don’t migrate from Windows XP to Vista .And there are lots of complaints to Vista. Maybe Server 2008 is a failure too. If the latest technology –Server 2008 is not on the market, who will hire a person owning useless MCITP/MCTS credentials on Server 2008?However,the MCSE /MCSA 2003 maybe retired until the main technology support ends. So, between MCSE/MCSA 2003 and MCITP/MCTS, we should consider MCSE/MCSA 2003 firstly. Even though Server 2008 is a success ,and most of companies will upgrade Server 2003 to 2008 ,it will be ok for us to upgrade MCSE 2003 to MCITP /MCTS .If there are no upgrade path for Server 2003 ，or most of MCSE exams are retired, we can directly take Server 2008 exams.

Of course, the above opinions are right according their own existence.
However, I have my view. Should you choose MCITP or MCSE? Or Is MCITP better than MCSE? It’s difficult to generalize. Everybody’s different.

For those without any experience in IT field, when you start your exams to IT certification, you should look into your work environment. Is Windows 2003 or Windows 2008 main stream in the market? If Windows 2003 is still popular in your market, you should consider MCSE 2003 firstly .Then you can consider about upgrading your MCSE 2003 to MCITP. After all, Server 2008 is a good technology .And it would not better to own MCSE 2003 and upgrade it to MCITP when the demand rises. If Windows 2003 is on your market, and 2008 Exams will be popular too, you also can consider 2003 firstly .Because, it will give you of no experience a broader understanding to technology to upgrade MCSE 2003 to MCITP 2008.However, for those having some experience in this technology, maybe MCITP/MCTS is better for you .The company that you work for maybe only run on WinXp,but it doesn’t mean that leaning the latest technology (Server 2008/Windows 7) won’t be of benefit. If you understand Server 2008, to some extent, your knowledge is “backwards compatible” and you’d be able to handle Server 2003 in a working environment.

Of course, the above views are just for reference; maybe you will have different opinions.
Hope you can share your idea with us to help more and more people out .Thanks for your reading.